#Analog Tech.
Marty,
RE: "This [NTSC] is going to die, folks…"
As a video engineer in a broadcast facility, I can tell you that you're
touching on a controversy that has raged on in professional circles for
years. The problem is that I don't think NTSC is going to "die" any time
soon.
Keep in mind that the technology that NTSC is based on was designed back in
the 1930's. Years later, when someone decided that it might be nice to
have COLOR television, a conscious decision was made that it would have to
be downward compatible with the original black-and-white signal so as not
to obsolete existing television sets. Were it not for that fact, today's
color television would undoubtedly be better than the current RS-170A spec.
Digital technology is many orders of magnitude better than the existing
format, but in order to implement digital, rather than analog, technology,
you still have the same problem: all existing television sets would
immediately become obsolete. And while people like me — who know the
difference — would happily invest in better image quality, we are in a
tiny minority. And the majority, quite understandably, would not be cheery
about throwing out every set in the house and buying new, costlier
(initially) television sets.
That impasse will keep NTSC, or another, downward-compatible standard,
alive for the forseeable future, IMHO.
Pete